Lobster Mac N' Cheese

This is a wonderful sauce, which works great over a gluten-free pasta.  It's so easy to whip together, too, but the result is a fabulous gourmet meal! Delicious!  It's wonderful served with toasted GF sourdough bread topped with garlic butter with a side salad for a restaurant-worthy meal.  We made this delicious dish when my mom and brother were visiting and it was a hit with everyone. Enjoy!!!

We made this dish with bacon-wrapped scallops for a delicious PEI feast!

Lobster Mac N' Cheese
Serves 4-6

Boil a large pot of water and cook 1 box Gluten-Free Pasta in salted water.  Rinse with cold water, and mix with cheesy lobster sauce.

While water is boiling/pasta is cooking, prepare the sauce:

In a large frying pan or medium saucepan over medium heat, cook until tender:
1/4 cup butter
1/4 vidalia (sweet) onion, chopped finely

Add, stirring constantly for 1 minute:
1/8 - 1/4 cup Kristin's Gluten-Free Flour Mix (less flour makes a runnier sauce, more makes a thicker one)
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp dry mustard
1/4 - 1/2 tsp ground pepper

Add in slowly, stirring constantly
2 cups milk (2% lactose-free works great)

Once mixture has thickened and is nice and smooth (about 5-7 minutes), add:
1/2 cup grated cheddar cheese
1/8 cup Parmesan cheese

Add:
1/3 lb cooked lobster meat, chopped 
sprinkle of paprika (optional)

Just so you can see the lovely lobster meat... 

Mix sauce with cooked, drained pasta and serve. Enjoy!

Blueberry-Plum Fried Fruit Pies

I was totally lame with picture-taking when I made these fried fruit pies.  But, they also went so quickly I really didn't get a chance!  The recipe is similar to my blueberry fried fruit pie recipe, but this time they have a yummy (and easy!) homemade pie filling packed with fresh blueberries and plums.  You'll love them. Enjoy!!!

A few piping hot pies ready to travel for a fun dessert after lunch with my friend Julie, who enjoyed them thoroughly :)

Blueberry Plum Fried Fruit Pies

With delicious homemade filling!

Makes ~8 pies

To prepare filling:

Mix together in a large bowl:

1 – 1 ¼ cup blueberries, rinsed and drained

1 – 1 ¼ cup sliced, ripe plums (~4 plums)

¼ cup sugar

¼ cup Kristin’s gluten-free flour mix

1 tsp fresh lemon juice

½ tsp ground cinnamon

¼ cup cold water

Pop the filling into a large skillet over medium heat.   Cook, stirring occasionally, until mixture starts to cook and thicken.  At this point, you’ll want to add more water (¼  – ½ cup) so it’s not too thick.  You’re aiming for a final consistency similar to the pie pudding filling from a can.  Cook, stirring, until blueberries have started bubbling and you’re happy with the consistency.   Remove from heat and let cool completely before using in fried fruit pies. I found it didn’t need covering. I’d give it a stir now and then as it cools.   Your filling will end up a lovely pink/purple color from the mixture of blueberries and plums.

To finish the fried fruit pies, follow the dough recipe and instructions from the blueberry fried fruit pie recipe, using your wonderful fresh blueberry-plum fruit filling to fill your pies.  Let cool, sprinkle with powdered sugar and enjoy!

Fresh fried pies - ready sprinkle with powdered sugar and devour!

Spinach Basil Pesto! (Nut-Free!!!)

Most times, when I use pesto, I just use the tasty pre-made kind.  Most of the time it's because I just don't have enough basil leaves, though.  But when family or friends visit that are allergic to nuts, I think it's nice (and so easy!) to whip up homemade pesto.  Our fabulous organic veggie CSA (community supported agriculture) program Heartbeet Organics provided us with some wonderful basil plants and plenty of delicious spinach the past couple weeks, so it was only appropriate to whip together a nut-free spinach-basil pesto to be used on pasta, pizza, or in recipes like the tasty pesto pasta salad.   I love that if you make a spinach-basil pesto you don't need quite as much basil, which is great early in the season when basil plants are still small.  You can easily make this recipe with nuts by adding in 1/4 - 1/2 cup pine nuts when you're blending things together, but I personally don't think it needs them at all.  Enjoy!

Freshly made!

Spinach Basil Pesto (Nut Free!)
Makes ~ 1 1/4 cups pesto

Blend together in a food processor:
2 cups fresh spinach
1/2 cup fresh basil leaves
1 Tbsp minced garlic
1 - 2 tsp dried basil (optional, but nice if you don't have a heaping 1/2 cup of basil leaves)
1 tsp dried oregano
1/3 cup grated romano cheese
1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese
1 Tbsp fresh lemon juice
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 - 1 tsp ground pepper
1/3 - 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil (adjust as desired, since it tends to depend on how you packed/measured your spinach & basil leaves)

Store in the refrigerator 1 - 2 weeks, or freeze up to a month.  

Easy & Delicious Gluten-Free Focaccia Bread

This tasty focaccia bread is so easy to whip up.  You can use it as a side-dish, or slice/pull it apart to use it as tasty sandwich bread.  My 3 year old loves helping me make this because I let her brush the dough with olive oil, and she gets to help sprinkle on the toppings, too.

We used it here for breadsticks.  I cut these in half again to make the a bit shorter, and they were great dipped in spaghetti sauce.

An easy sandwich whipped together on focaccia bread. Yum!

Focaccia Bread
based on a recipe from the only GF cookbook I'd recommend, "Artisanal Gluten-Free Cooking"
Makes 1 large cookie-sheet sized focaccia

Preheat oven to 400F. Line cookie sheet with parchment paper.  Butter edges and anywhere the parchment paper might not cover.

In a mixer, combine the following dry ingredients:
3 cups Kristin's Gluten-Free Flour Mix
2 tsp xanthan gum
1 tsp salt
2 Tbsp quick-rise yeast
2 Tbsp sugar

Add in, mix slowly, then increase speed to medium. Beat 2-3 minutes:
2 cups warm water
2 eggs
4 Tbsp olive oil

Spread in prepared baking pan.

Brush with 2 Tbsp olive oil.

My 3 year old brushing the focaccia with olive oil.  She loves making this bread! 

Sprinkle with:
fresh ground salt
dried oregano
dried basil

Let rise 15-20 minutes in a warm location.

The focaccia ready to bake after a 15-20 minute rise.

Bake at 400F for ~20 - 25 minutes, until nicely browned.  Remove from oven.  Let sit a few minutes before removing to a cooling rack (remove parchment paper, too).  You can cut warm or cool with a bread knife.  

Fresh out of the oven. 

Cut into strips for breadsticks OR cut into squares to use for sandwiches.  Enjoy! 

This summer, we've got a plethora of wonderful, organic veggies coming our way from our CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) program with Heartbeet Organics here on Prince Edward Island.  It only seemed proper to put the beautiful purple kale, spinach and green onions/scallions from this week to use in a tasty summer dish! While homemade pesto is wonderful, the basil plants they gave me aren't quite big enough to make pesto yet, so I find it's easier to use the ready-made kind in order to whip together delicious meals, or BBQ side-dishes like this one.  (Don't worry mom, we'll make some nut-free pesto this summer for you when you visit!)   We like this salad plain, but since I live in PEI, land of lobster, it seemed appropriate to put some fresh cooked lobster meat on top of this salad. You can serve it with shrimp as well.  Sprinkled with a few dashes of tabasco sauce, and it was fabulous! Enjoy!

We had it the next day topped with lobster & a few dashes of tabasco sauce. Delicious!

A yummy pesto salad made with increased amount of of pesto/mayo, as suggested below and using celery instead of peas.  Delicious served immediately while warm, or you can chill before serving. 

Pesto Pasta Salad (w/ Lobster or Shrimp)

Serves 6-8

Cook ~700 g gluten-free fusilli pasta in salted water, as directed on package (I used 2 packages of 340g Catelli GF Fusilli Pasta).  I recommend tasting a noodle to make sure it's to your desired taste.  I find gluten-free pasta often needs extra cook time.  Drain, rinsing with cold water.

Mix pasta with:
3 Tbsp lemon-infused olive oil (OR 1 Tbsp lemon juice & 3 Tbsp olive oil)
2-3 Tbsp green pesto

While pasta is cooking you can prep the following:

In a small bowl, mix together: (* This amount makes a lighter sauce on the pasta, double, triple or quadruple this if you want a creamier salad)
3-4 Tbsp green pesto
1 Tbsp lemon juice
4 Tbsp mayonnaise
3/4 tsp fresh ground salt
3/4 tsp fresh ground pepper

Have ready to mix into the pasta:
1 - 1 1/2 cups frozen peas, thawed OR 1 - 1 1/2 cups diced celery
1 cup fresh spinach, stems removed & chopped
1 cup fresh purple kale, stems removed & chopped
1 - 2 Tbsp finely diced scallions/green onions

Gently toss pasta together with veggies & sauce.  Add additional salt/pepper, as desired.  You can serve this plain OR top with one of the following:

Fresh cooked lobster meat, chopped coarsely
OR
Fresh shrimp (shell-off), brushed with lemon-infused olive oil and BBQ'd until pink

Sprinkle with a few dashes of tabasco sauce, to serve.  Enjoy!

Ready to serve!  This is great b/c since you've already run the GF noodles under cold water, you don't need to wait for your dish to chill before serving. 

Pesto Pasta Salad (with Lobster or Shrimp) by Successfully Gluten Free!

Easy & Delicious Shrimp Skewers

There's nothing like being able to cook things on the BBQ when it's hot - but luckily, you can also make these wrapped in foil wraps and either cook on the BBQ or even cook the foil-wrapped packets in the oven!** Win-win!  I like using metal skewers since you don't have to think in advance and soak them, but you can use wooden skewers, too. Just make sure to soak them overnight before you prep them.  I love using vidalia onions when they're in season. They're wonderfully sweet and cook up nicely.  They're a great combination with the shrimp, hint of lemon, and red pepper.  Make sure to prepare a side of rice (I made a quinoa and wild rice blend in the picture here), and steamed a some green beans & carrots. Enjoy!

Freshly BBQ'd and ready to eat, served with a side of quinoa/rice and steamed veggies!

Easy & Delicious Shrimp Skewers
Makes ~6-8 skewers, Serves 4

Start cooking 1 cup quinoa/wild rice mix or rice of your choice to serve on the side with your skewers.

Prepare:
2-3 big handfuls of shrimp, peeled & deveined (tails on or off)
1 red bell pepper, chopped into large pieces
1/2 vidalia onion, chopped into large pieces

Thread onto skewers shrimp, bell pepper and onion.  I tend to use a few onion slices together since they're thin.  You can alternate randomly, i.e. onion, pepper, 2 shrimp, pepper, shrimp, onion, pepper, 2 shrimp.  Don't worry if you have a little extra of anything, since you can wrap it right up foil and cook it alongside the skewers on your BBQ. See note below*

Brush the skewers with lemon-infused olive oil (or mix together a squirt of fresh lemon juice and olive oil).  You can grind a bit of salt & pepper on them, if you like.

Cook over medium-low heat on your BBQ, turning every couple minutes.  When your shrimp have turned from blue/grey to pink/red they are done!  Every BBQ is different, but I found they took ~5-6 minutes.

Remove from heat and serve immediately. You can serve on skewers or remove from skewers (as I did, since I'm using metal skewers and serving kids) and serve with a side of rice and steamed veggies.

* Foil packets on the BBQ: If you have extra shrimp, onions, peppers: Using double layer of foil, place the extras in the middle of the foil.  Drizzle over a bit of lemon-infused olive oil. To seal the foil wrap: Pull two opposite sides of foil together, rolling them down together in the middle. Pinch together and roll up the other two sides.  You can place this packet on the grill and the shrimp will steam in a few minutes.  You can always remove it from the grill, carefully open to see if it's done and return it to the BBQ if it needs more time.

** Bake in the oven:Yes, you can cook foil-wrapped packets of the shrimp, onion and peppers in a regular oven.  I'd recommend making ~ 3-4 foil packets and placing them on a cookie sheet.  Bake for 15-20 minutes at 400F.

Blueberry Bagels

I've made mini blueberry bagels, mini cinnamon raisin bagels, everything bagels, and jalapeno-cheddar bagels, poppyseed bagels, apple-cinnamon bagels, cinnamon-sugar bagels, and I decided the time had come to make some full sized blueberry bagels. Berries are in season and so delicious to use in baking.  Plus, I find bagels freeze really well, so you can enjoy them anytime!  I have more pictures of the piping, rising, etc. in my other bagel recipes, in case you're wanting to see more details.  I find that despite not having been boiled, these are wonderfully chewy and have a great bagel texture.  One of those quirks of gluten-free cooking - we can't always do things like we used to do them.  In this case, it's a win-win! Happy bagel making! Enjoy!

Fresh from the oven! 

Blueberry Bagels

Makes 5 – 6 large bagels

Line cookie sheet with silicon mat or parchment paper.

In a 1 cup measuring cup mix and let rest 5 minutes:

2/3 cup warm water

4 Tbsp honey

2 tsp rapid rise yeast (quick-rise yeast)

Add to yeast mixture:

2 egg

4 Tbsp oil

1 tsp apple cider vinegar

Set liquids aside, and mix together in a mixer:

1 1/3 cup tapioca starch

1 cup brown rice flour

5 Tbsp potato starch

1 ½ tsp xanthan gum

1 tsp salt

Add liquids to mixer.  Mix on low, until combined.  Then mix on medium speed, scraping occasionally, for 2-3 minutes.  Batter will be nice and smooth.

Fold in:

Scant 1 cup fresh blueberries, rinsed

Put batter into a Ziploc (I like the freezer bags because they’re stronger).  Cut 1” off one corner.  Pipe 5 – 6 bagels onto prepared cookie sheet.

Using wet hands, spread bagels so the holes are nice and big. You can also smooth out any areas that are a bit lumpy. 

Let rise in a warm location for 30-40 minutes.  They’ll look a bit puffier, but won’t fully double in size.

Bake at 350F for 20-25 minutes until browned.  Cool on cooling rack.  Once cooled, you can slice and freeze if you aren’t planning to get them right away. These are great toasted with cream cheese.

Enjoy!